Tuesday, October 30, 2007

In 1963 Ferruccio Lamborghini, a wealthy tractor manufacturer, went to the Ferrari factory to meet Enzo Ferrari and complain about problems with the clutch on his Ferrari 250GT. Enzo replied by telling Lamborghini that there was nothing wrong with the car and that he should go drive his tractors because he didn't know how to drive cars. Quite mad, Ferruccio went back to his factory and had the Ferrari's transmission removed to find that the clutch was from the same manufacturer he used for his tractors. He searched his parts warehouse and found an appropriate replacement and the problem was solved. Sill furious, Ferruccio Lamborghini swore that he would never buy another Ferrari and vowed to beat him at his own game by building a better sports car. Automobili Lamborghini was born.

The 1963 350GT was the first model produced by Lamborghini which was followed by the 400GT. Both sold well but the car that put them on the map as a serious sports car company was the Miura. The chassis of the Miura was shown for the first time at the 1965 Turin Motor Show where it generated a buzz and several orders even without a production body. A body was designed by Marcello Gandini from Bertone and was unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show where it became a sensation.

P400 Miura

The early cars, known as the P400, were produced between 1966 and 1969 and used the same 3.9L V12 from the previous 400GT. The 350HP engine was mounted transversely and was a single casting along with the transaxle using the same lubrication system for both. These early cars became infamous for being a fire hazard due to the use of a particular model of Weber Carburetors intended for race cars. The carbs would build up with excess fuel while idling which would ignite when the driver attempted to accelerate. Lamborghini eventually came up with a fix that was, surprisingly, adopted by Ferrari who used the same carb in one of their cars. Approximately 275 of the P400s were produced with a price tag of around $20,000.

Miura S

In November 1968, the P400S better known as the Miura S, debuted at the Turin Motor Show. There were slight changes from the original Miura which were mostly ergonomic. There was however a bump in power of 20HP thanks to larger intake manifolds, and revised camshaft profiles. About 338 Miura S models were produced between December 1968 and March 1969.

Miura SV

The final production model Miura was the P400SV. Lamborghini again revised the camshafts and changed the carburetors to add another 15HP to engine output. The SV also featured a limited slip differential which required the engine and transmission to become separate castings with independent lubrication systems. The Miura SV also had some cosmetic changes, most noticeably the wider rear fenders to cover the new 9" wide rear wheels as well as different taillights and the loss of the "eyelashes" around the headlights.

Miura SV/J

There were also a few one-off and limited production variations of the Miura produced during the life of the car. There was the P400 Jota built meeting FIA racing requirements for group J racing and as a development mule for future Miura models. This car led to customers requesting that Lamborghini produce a Jota model. They refused to take on the expense of building the new car and instead offered an upgrade to the SV which came to be known as the SV/J. Only five of these were built by the factory. Two were new chassis and three were converted SVs. One final SV/J was built in 1987 from a leftover chassis for the brother of Patrick Mimram who owned Lamborghini at the time. A one-off roadster was also built by Bertone as a show car and still exists today. An SV/J Spyder was also created and displayed at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show. The car was actually the 1971 Geneva Show car which had been converted by the Swiss Lamborghini importer.

Aside from the early fire problems, Miuras also became somewhat notorious for being unstable at high speeds. This was mainly due to the fact that the fuel tank was in the front of the car and as it emptied, the weight over the front wheels became less and less resulting in lift being generated at the front of the car at speed. The car's performance was pretty good for it's day though as the Miura was able to hit 60MPH in about 5.5 seconds and through the 1/4 mile in the low 14 second to high 13 second range. Top speed was around 179MPH.

In 2006 Lamborghini unveiled a Miura Concept which commemorated the intoduction of the original car in 1966. The concept car is a beautiful modern interpretation of the orignal design of the Miura much like the Ford GT is to the original GT40. Unfortunately, Lamborghini has indicated that they have no intention to put the car into production.

2006 Miura Concept

The Miura was the first car to be coined a "supercar" by the automotive press. In 2004, Sports Car International named the Miura number four on their list of the Top Sports Cars of All Time. Most importantly, it proved that Lamborghini could be a player in the exotic sports car market and gave Ferrari some competition.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Nissan's new GTR is not scheduled to make it's debut until the Tokyo Auto show next week but their attempts to keep the official specs and final details a secret until then have been largely unsuccessful. Various sources have posted official photos and specs on the car within the last couple of days opening the flood gates.

The styling is a bit iffy but I'll wait for my final decision until I see one in person. The performance numbers however, are another story. What is known now is that the car will be sporting a 3.8L twin-turbo V6 making 473HP and 434TQ which will rocket the car to 60 in 3.5 seconds and through the 1/4 mile in 11.7seconds on way to a top speed of 192mph. Pretty freaking fast in other words. The car will also feature all wheel drive and a 6 speed dual-clutch automated manual like Audi's DSG transmission. Base price looks to be below $80,000. It remains to be seen if a lot of buyers will be willing to plunk down that much on a Nissan but those who know what those three letters GTR mean will want one.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Honda seems to be hinting at reviving the very popular CRX at the upcoming Tokyo Auto Show where they will be displaying the CR-Z lightweight hybrid concept. Hopefully they buid it and keep it faithful to the design philosophy of the original which was one of my favorite all time cars.

Here is the article from topgear.com:

"The new Honda CR-X may finally be on the way. Over the last few years, Honda has released a bunch of dodgy design studies previewing a lightweight sports car, but with the CR-Z concept - due to be unveiled in Tokyo - it looks like finally becoming a reality.

And we approve very much. Top Gear has a big soft spot for the original CR-X, and the CR-Z is by far and away the best-looking of the Honda lightweight concepts we've seen: miles better than the Small Hybrid Sports Concept from Geneva this year and the Remix from LA in 2006.

Honda says that CR-Z stands for Compact Renaissance Zero, which is largely marketing nonsense but does indicate that the Japanese design team has gone a bit retro. That sharply angled glass hatch is straight off the CR-X, while the low, stretched stance is faithful to the original, too.

The CR-Z is powered by a three-stage i-VTEC petrol engine coupled to an IMA hybrid electric motor. Though there are no more details on the drivetrain at the moment, Honda is highlighting the CR-Z's eco-friendliness, so expect a small engine with low emissions.

Those narrow wing mirrors will expand somewhat if the CR-Z makes it to production, while the high-concept interior would be completely overhauled.The basic proportions of the CR-Z look sensible enough, though - longer and wider than the original CR-X (though no taller), there's a proper back seat... and even those 19-inch wheels don't look too absurd.

We'll have a closer look at the CR-Z in Tokyo towards the end of this month and, if it's even half as good in flesh as in these photos, we'll be imploring Honda to build it."